


When I Am Laid Low

by ShadowChaser67



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Anakin doesn't know how to process feelings, Gen, Hurt Anakin Skywalker, Hurt Obi-Wan Kenobi, Protective Anakin Skywalker, Rex knows how to help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2020-11-26 03:35:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20923502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowChaser67/pseuds/ShadowChaser67
Summary: Anakin loses Obi-wan briefly in a battle. The sight of his injured former master rattles him more than he'd care to admit. A little Obi-wan whump and Anakin angst, because I can. Set post-Attack of the Clones, pre-Clone Wars.





	1. The Battleground

**Author's Note:**

> I own no part of anything in the Star Wars universe. I wish I did.

It took Anakin a moment to process what had just happened. One second, he and Obi-wan were fighting back-to-back, slowly but surely fighting off hordes of droids. He’d twisted his lightsaber to the left, cut up, and then felt a hot wind sweep at his back as the drilengko surged between him and Obi-wan. Anakin took out the remaining six droids ahead of him with a Force-push and the droideka to his right with a direct stab through its central system, then turned his attention to the drilengko’s beady eyes and bloodied jaw.

Except it hadn’t been bloodied a moment ago.

The creature hissed at him and Anakin felt a stab of fear over Obi-wan’s sudden disappearance. Tightening his grip on his weapon, Anakin snarled at the reptilian creature; it’s tail spikes stiffened in response, and it clawed its way to the Jedi. Anakin waited until the last second, then rolled to the left as the spikes lashed out where his head had just been. The spikes caught and tore the back of his robe as he dove, digging far enough through the layers that it hit skin. Wincing as he righted himself, he ditched the robe and spun the lightsaber in the direction of the drilengko. It dodged the blow but couldn’t escape the Force. Anakin stopped it in its tracks and lifted it off the ground. At another, less violent time, he might have noticed the terror that filled the creature’s eyes, but now was not that time. Adrenaline coursing through his veins from the fight and his wound, Anakin closed his fist, effectively crushing the drilengko’s throat. He released his hold, and it dropped to the ground in a boneless heap, never to move again.

His lightsaber at the ready, Anakin spun on his heel, his eyes scanning for any new threats as he searched for his former master. He stopped, closed his eyes, and reached out with the Force; several seconds later, he detected Obi-wan’s heartbeat. It was slow. Anakin's eyes snapped open.

It was _too_ slow.

He scampered over a heap of droid parts and saw Obi-wan's foot sticking out from under a battle droid’s torso. A strangled cry died in his throat as he pushed the metal off his friend; the Jedi master was unconscious, and the front of his clothing was torn and bloodied. Anakin later vaguely recalled pulling out his comlink and informing Rex that Obi-wan needed immediate medical attention. He retrieved his own torn robe from where he’d discarded it a few meters away, rolled it into a ball, then gently lifted Obi-wan’s head and carefully placed it beneath. His back stinging from sweat trickling into his own wound, he bent over the elder Jedi.

Blood was already seeping through Obi-wan’s outermost layer. First the leather belt, then the obi was removed; he pushed the torn remnants of the damaged clothing off Obi-wan’s shoulders, and nearly gagged at the sight that met him. Lacerations of varying depths crisscrossed the older man’s chest, the worst one a gash that began at the top of the left shoulder and ended just above the navel. Several punctures were grouped in a semi-circle on his right side, and Anakin had the dawning realization that he'd had been bitten.

He tore a piece of Obi-wan’s robe and pressed it into the nearest wound. At the contact, Obi-wan gasped and his eyes slid open, unfocused and pained.

“Obi-wan, can you hear me? Obi-wan!”

Obi-wan’s eyes rolled sluggishly in the direction of Anakin’s voice. Through the haze of beckoning unconsciousness, Obi-wan could barely make out the dirt-crusted features of his former apprentice. He looked so concerned; why was that? Anakin only looked like that if something really bad had happened. All he could tell was that his chest was on fire. He tried to reach a hand up to find out why, but Anakin grabbed his wrist. Obi-wan settled for clinging Anakin’s pauldron; the contact helped momentarily ground both men. But he realized the pain was building, becoming unbearable.

He locked eyes with Anakin, tried to get the words out. But all that escaped was a moan. His eyes closed, his grip on Anakin’s shirt loosened, and Obi-wan felt himself slipping back into darkness. Somewhere in the distance, he heard shouting. Then nothing.


	2. The Bacta Tank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I realized as I was writing that this is very early on in the Clone Wars. Like, Rex-is-still-getting-used-to-the-Jedi early on. So I opted to add a chapter in here to see it a little from his angle.

Captain Rex had to actively resist banging his helmeted head against the nearest solid surface. The Jedi he’d been exposed to in the past were calm, rational beings; the Force seemed to grant them an air of mystery that they were often loathe to shed.

Then he was assigned to General Skywalker.

Rex glanced briefly in the direction of his wounded commanding officer. The young Jedi had wanted to stay with Obi-wan and his bacta tank instead of having his own wounds tended to. Even explanations of the potentially deadly bacteria that resided on the drilengko’s spikes hadn’t swayed him.

The clone trooper sighed. Once they'd docked the transport on the medical frigate, he’d had to physically block Anakin from following Obi-wan’s stretcher upon entry and informed the wounded man that if he did not let the med droids look at his injuries, Rex would incapacitate him himself before dragging his twitching body to the droids. THEN he would be reported to the Jedi Council as unfit to fight. Anakin’s eyes had narrowed at the issued threat, and Rex knew he was weighing the odds of a fight against his clone captain in his mind. Thankfully, Anakin relented and allowed the med droid at hand to lead him to a separate healing chamber.

Rex’s body sagged briefly when no one was watching; arguing with a Jedi was always a tense endeavor, no matter the context. But these two Jedi had formed closer bonds with their clone troopers than any Jedi the captain had ever observed. Obi-wan and Anakin made it obvious they trusted their clones almost as much as the clones trusted them. He shook his head and turned back to the now-bandaged Anakin sitting in front of Obi-wan’s bacta tank. It’s a good thing he liked the pair, Rex thought, because he was very confident that the task of babysitting Jedi had not been in his list of designated duties when he had been promoted to captain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obi-wan had been in the bacta tank for nearly fifteen hours. His injuries alone were extensive, but the added problem of the drilengko’s bacteria meant that he had been on the brink of death the entire transport ride in to the med bay, and he’d already had to be resuscitated once. Now he floated peacefully in the bacta, the mask over his face both tethering him in place and forcing oxygen into his respiratory system until he started regulating his breaths on his own. The microorganisms in the fluid swarmed his body, repairing tissue on the molecular level at an even more accelerated rate than a Jedi healer ever could.

All Anakin could do was watch.

He’d felt powerless many times in his life, but most of those times had been prior to his life as a Jedi. As he watched his friend and mentor slowly mend, he realized he’d never considered the fact that he could lose Obi-wan. He found himself remembering Obi-wan’s listless face as a clone medic and a droid worked to restart his heart when it had stopped mid-transport, and unconsciously his own breathing began to quicken.

Memories began to flit through his mind, first of Obi-wan, then his mother. His thoughts began to spiral, and soon he found that breathing was becoming increasingly difficult. The tank and medical machinery in front of him started to blur.

Suddenly he felt an armored hand on the back of his neck, pushing his head unceremoniously down between his knees.

“Steady breathing, now, sir. Regulate it. In the nose, out the mouth.” He’d watched Captain Rex give orders many times, but Anakin had never been on the receiving end of one. He found he was grateful to let someone else take charge in the moment. Slowly, he forced himself to take measured breaths until he was no longer gasping; when his vision no longer swam, he carefully righted himself.

Rex was dragging a bacta supply container over and sat down on Anakin’s right, leaving Anakin a line of sight to Kenobi. The clone hesitated before removing his bucket helmet; this was the most informal he’d ever been around either man, but in his own soldierly opinion, the situation called for it. He watched as Anakin refocused on Obi-wan and nearly cursed out loud when he saw Anakin’s breaths start to quicken once more.

“General Skywalker, I need you to look at me.” At Anakin’s darkened expression, the clone pushed on, as gently as he could. “General Kenobi isn’t going anywhere for at least another hour. You need to be in this room, I understand. But if you hyperventilate one more time you _will_ end up in the tank next to him; you nearly dove headfirst into that trash bin a moment ago. And I promise you every clone will know in a matter of hours how you got the scar.”

Anakin looked at Obi-wan’s healing form and took a shuddering breath. “He almost died, Rex. He _did_ die, technically. I can’t—“ His fists balled in his lap before he pressed his knuckles into his eyes. “I lost my mother. I can’t lose him, too. I don’t know what I’d do.”

The quiet anger pulsating just under the surface of that statement gave Rex pause. All clones had been briefed about basic Jedi lifestyle before their first duty assignment, but no one had said anything about Jedi that questioned…themselves. This seemed like new territory for all parties.

“Sounds like you need a distraction, sir.”

Anakin blew out a slow breath, his mood deflating with it. “Did you have anything in mind?” he muttered.

Rex grinned. He just needed to distract the Jedi for a bit, and life in the clone barracks had provided him with an arsenal.

“Did I ever tell you how Hardcase learned the hard way to never detonate anything near Fives’ personal belongings?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I have no idea how long the average swim in a bacta tank might be. So I picked a number that seemed high to me. Someone out there that has a better grasp of bacta-to-time ratio, holler and I'll adjust accordingly!
> 
> It looks like any updates will be happening on weekends, as that's when I can get actual, consistent access to WiFi. Yippee.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts!


	3. The False Alarm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time I update, the chapter numbers go up. This fic may actually conclude, someday. 
> 
> Today is not that day.

Thoughts were slippery in the initial phases of waking up from a dip in bacta. Objectively, Obi-wan knew this, but it had been quite some time since the last time he was injured enough to be fully immersed in the substance. He drifted in and out of consciousness, the few snatches of clarity enough to inform him of his surroundings and to bring back the shuddering memories of what had happened.

The last thing he remembered was an image of Anakin covered in blood. Why couldn’t he sense him now?

Unbeknownst to Obi-wan, Anakin had finally managed to gain enough control over his emotions that he’d started using the Force to shield himself; the young Jedi knew he hadn't cared how far he'd been projecting his emotions into the Force. Now he used the Force to cocoon himself in an effort to protect other Force-sensitive users from his anguished spiral. But Obi-wan had no such ideas; since he couldn’t see through the bacta, he had no idea that the younger Jedi was on the other side of the glass tank, sprawled wearily over a makeshift chair. He just knew he couldn’t sense his former apprentice, and in his bleary haze took the absence as loss. The aching sensation that ripped through him had nothing to do with his injuries. It still managed to set off every sensor attached to him as he cried out in the Force.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anakin felt the cry a nanosecond before Obi-wan’s tank started up an alarm. He stood up and was immediately forced back by a stampeded of medical personnel that swarmed the room. Somewhere in the confused din, Rex managed to make it back to Anakin’s side and laid a hand on the Jedi’s shoulder.

Half of the medical team huddled around Obi-wan’s readout chart while the other half were preparing an immediate extraction. Anakin could sense confusion from some of them, but the few humanoid med team members weren’t speaking Basic. The extraction team now had Obi-wan halfway out of the tank, and a droid was in the process of removing the face mask. Doing the only thing he could think to, Anakin reached out to Obi-wan in the Force, trying to locate the source of the man’s distress.

The alarms stopped instantly. The medical team froze.

“Anakin?”

The weak voice barely carried across the room, but every organism could hear the hope that infused the single word. Seeing that Anakin was struggling to respond, Rex took over.

“He’s right here, General Kenobi. Let the medics help you. You’re not quite healed yet.”

“Are you okay, Anakin? You were hurt.” Obi-wan's head lolled to one side as he struggled against the two medics that were trying to replace the mask on his face.

“I’m fine, Obi-wan. Just got a little scratched up from the lizard that tried to eat you.”

“Oh. You should get that looked at. Drilengko bacteria can be very serious.”

“Kenobi.” The command in Rex’s voice surprised everyone. Even Anakin turned to look at him. “You will submit to the medical team until they see fit to discharge you. General Skywalker has been tended to and is healing. Now you need to do the same. That is an order, sir.”

For the second time in a matter of seconds, silence reigned in the room as all eyes turned back to the man in the bacta tank. Obi-wan blinked slowly, the anesthesia from the bacta still very much in his system.

“Very well, Captain.”

With a nod from Rex, the medics refitted the mask onto Obi-wan’s face and slowly re-submerged him. A med droid turned to the clone and young Jedi.

“General Obi-wan Kenobi is ninety-one percent healed,” it intoned. “Full recovery estimated in two hours. He will then be placed in med bay six for full evaluation before being discharged.” It’s message delivered, the droid’s body swiveled and the unit rolled out the door. The rest of the med response team slowly trickled out until all that remained were Anakin and Rex. The silence stretched out between them.

“I think Obi-wan will want to re-evaluate your understanding of the command structure, Rex.”

Rex glanced at Anakin, hearing more than seeing the humor there. He tilted his head in mock consideration. “With all due respect, sir, I think my understanding is pretty solid.”

Anakin chuckled. “I tend to agree.” He allowed himself the moment before sobering. “Do you really think he’ll be okay?”

“Droids may be annoying heaps of metal that often get in the way, but they’re usually accurate.”

Anakin blew out a breath. “Two more hours. Rex, I’m starving. Should we go see how bad this frigate’s meal system is?”

“Right behind you, sir.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd started to write the final chapter, then my muse took a slight detour. Who am I to argue? A little emotional whump goes a long way. 
> 
> Next week should be the actual conclusion. And the inevitable confrontation between these two men, both of whom really REALLY need to talk to each other.
> 
> Any feedback is welcome and loved!


	4. The Med Bay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion! A little Obikin slash, if you squint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the time lapse! Work cut in, and then my muse.......disappeared. Or something. But I caught it and squeaked this out yesterday, so here it is! Enjoy.

Rex watched through the observation window as Obi-wan sat on the edge of his assigned cot in med bay six, a temporary Jedi uniform folded next to him. He’d finally been cleared for combat. Mere hours after he’d finally emerged from the bacta, Obi-wan had been anxious to return to work; when the med droids and Rex had told him to wait through the final healing phases, he’d taken to making everyone’s lives miserable. As infuriating as the whole charade was, Rex suspected a different motive was partially behind it.

Anakin hadn’t come by to visit Obi-wan since the moment the alarms had been set off. That had been two days ago.

Rex sighed, then heard the familiar tread of Jedi boots coming down the hall. He decided to make himself scarce so the two Jedi could figure things out between them in peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obi-wan smiled to himself as he began to change into the borrowed robes; he didn’t _exactly _enjoy being a problematic patient, but past experience had led him to discover that problematic patients get discharged faster. That said, he’d willingly bet twenty credits that the ever-stoic Captain Rex was ready to throw the Jedi master back to his own unit, preferably overhand.

The door to the medical bay chimed, and Anakin strode in before Obi-wan even had the chance to raise his voice in acknowledgement, much less finish securing his shirt closed.

“Anakin. The point of the bell is nullified if you don’t—“ He was cut off by sheer surprise when Anakin’s arms wrapped around Obi-wan’s shoulders. He stood in shock for several milliseconds before patting the younger man’s sides with his hands. It was the only motion he could manage, locked as he was in the fierce embrace. He realized Anakin was shaking.

Obi-wan pulled back; gently, he placed his right hand on Anakin’s cheek and used his left to rub small circles into the back of Anakin’s neck. Anakin refused to look into his eyes, but his good hand soon crept up to Obi-wan’s wrist. After a moment Obi-wan understood that he was feeling for a pulse. Obi-wan stroked a thumb along Anakin’s jawline and carefully touched their foreheads together. They stood this way for several minutes: breathing each other’s air, neither of them speaking. Both men needed the physical contact to confirm that the other was safe.

“Are you okay?” Obi-wan finally whispered into the silence. He felt a light puff of air as Anakin huffed, and pulled back to see tears shimmering on Anakin’s eyelashes.

“This from the man who was fully submerged in bacta for sixteen hours before the droids even considered pulling you out.”

“It was all under control.”

“You _died_.”

“Rex wouldn’t have let me remain as such. He’d have Cody to answer to.”

Anakin took a step back, finally looking Obi-wan in the face for the first time since barging in. His face was etched with pain, and his eyes flashed. “How can you be so flippant about this? How?!”

The older Jedi sighed. “If I were to stop and dwell on all the times I’ve been gravely injured, or all the times someone I cared for was hurt, maimed, or killed…” Obi-wan paused, and then shook his head and closed his eyes. “I allow the pain,” he said simply. “I embrace it, analyze it, then release it.” He opened his eyes and looked pointedly at his former apprentice, who now stood before him looking as lost as Obi-wan had ever seen him. “I learned how to many years ago, as a young Padawan. And I am glad for it, because the alternative is to curl up on the floor in a ball under the mountainous weight of it all. I’d never be able to get out of bed.” He blew out a breath.

“This is not me being flippant, Anakin. This is me gaining control.”

The fire in Anakin’s eyes slowly died out, and Obi-wan watched as he slowly sank onto the edge of the medical cot.

“I’ve always hated that the angrier I get about any given situation, the calmer you become.”

“_Someone _has to be the voice of reason.”

The corner of Anakin’s mouth lifted for a brief moment, and Obi-wan considered it a victory.

Obi-wan moved to the other side of the cot and sat down before swinging his legs up and scooting back until his back was against the headboard. He beckoned for Anakin to move towards him, but the young Jedi hesitated.

“Come here, Anakin.”

Anakin finally relented, slowly shifting around until his body curled up against Obi-wan’s right side. He wrapped his arms around Obi-wan’s waist, and Obi-wan slowly stroked Anakin’s back with his right hand. He gently ran his fingers through the curly locks that were now nestled against his chest and began to quietly hum a Cygorian sea shanty.

Obi-wan knew he’d have to talk with Anakin more in-depth about this later. Issues of attachments aside, Anakin clearly struggled with letting go of his anger, and would attract closer inspection by higher-ranking Jedi if he wasn’t careful. But that was a discussion for later, when both men had rebounded from this episode.

He felt Anakin slowly relax under his touch; only then did he let himself drift.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Rex and Cody came looking for them an hour later, both Jedi were fast asleep, with legs intertwined and heads resting on each other.

“How long do you think we can manage to keep them asleep?” Cody whispered.

“Not long enough,” Rex replied wearily. “How much would I have to pay you to take them both, right now?”

Cody grinned. “More credits than five clones could make in their lifetimes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it! It's not the greatest work ever, but it's my first and I like it. 
> 
> As always, feedback is much appreciated! Thank you, lovelies!

**Author's Note:**

> First time fic posting! Be gentle, loves, but give me feedback! Feedback is life-sustaining sustenance.


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